Navigate to the directory that contains the virtual machine disk with the missing descriptor file using the command: #cd "/vmfs/volumes/<uuid>/<dir>

Identify the type of SCSI controller the virtual disk is using. You can do this by examining the virtual machine configuration file (.vmx). The controller is identified by the line scsi#.virtualDev, where # is the controller number; there may be more than one controller and controller type attached to the virtual machine. This example uses bslgic:

# vmkfstools -c 4294967296 –a buslogic temp.vmdkThis command uses these flags:-c <size> (This is the size of the virtual disk).-a <virtual controller> (Whether the virtual disk was configured to work with BusLogic or LSILogic).-d thin (This creates the disk in a thin-provisioned format).

Note: To save disk space, we create the disk in a thin-provisioned format using the type thin. The resulting flat file then consumes minimal amounts of space (1MB) instead of immediately assuming the capacity specified with the -c switch. The only consequence, however, is the descriptor file contains an extra line that must be removed manually in a later step.

The files temp.vmdk and temp-flat.vmdk are created as a result.

Delete temp-flat.vmdk, as it is not needed. Run the command:# rm temp-flat.vmdk

Rename temp.vmdk to the name that is required to match the orphaned .flat file (or esxconsole.vmdk,in this example): # mv temp.vmdk esxconsole.vmdk

Edit the descriptor file with a text editor (VI) : a) Under Extent Description section, change the name of the .flat file to match the orphaned .flat file you have. b) Find and remove the line ddb.thinProvisioned = "1" if the original .vmdk was not a thin disk. If it was, retain this line.